


Joy in the Journey

by seektheinfinite



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Humor, M/M, Mostly Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-03
Updated: 2017-03-03
Packaged: 2018-09-28 03:59:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10070435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seektheinfinite/pseuds/seektheinfinite
Summary: Robert helps out at The Mill, getting it ready for when Aaron gets home. The only problem is that Robert has absolutely no DIY skills whatsoever.“Yeah thanks,” Robert snapped, “I may not be very good at this stuff but I’m not a complete idiot.”“I’m just sayin bro,” Adam smacked him playfully on the arm, “you need to be careful is all. Aaron will not thank me if he comes back and you’re missing pieces.”“Yeah well, as long as there’s one piece that’s still intact I’m sure he’d get over it.” Robert quipped, before turning to the task at hand.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Apart from the very first section this is just pure fluff and stupidness. It started out life as angst fic but turned into something completely different. I just wanted to play around with characters that I'd never written before, and it was so much fun, particularly Adam.
> 
> I hope enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it.

“Hello” Ronnie called into the semi-darkness of the empty room, cautiously making his way further in. He wasn’t expecting anyone to be here, apart from himself Robert and Adam were the only ones with keys, and he’d sent Adam home hours ago, to spend some time with Victoria. “Robert?”

When no reply was forthcoming he made his way further into the house. It was possible that Adam had just forgotten to lock up after him when he’d left, but he didn’t want to be taking any chances. Not that there was anything to steal of course, The Mill still being an empty shell. But that didn’t mean that someone wouldn’t want to break in, teenagers looking for a place to hang out maybe.

Picking up the hammer that he’d left earlier in the day Ronnie made his way into the living room, and was surprised to find a figure hunched over in the middle room. A half empty bottle of whisky sat beside them, whilst torn and discarded pages of what looked like catalogues littered the floor.

“Robert?” Leaning the hammer up against the doorway, he didn’t think he’d be needing it after all, Ronnie approached the younger man. It wasn’t until he was practically behind him that he tried once again to get his attention. “Robert, are you okay?”

It was as he came around to Robert’s side that he realised he was wearing headphones, obviously listening to something on his phone. He didn’t want to startle him, but Ronnie saw no other way of getting his attention than to place a hand on his shoulder.

Robert practically leapt into the air, swinging around so fast that he fell backwards, arms raised as though ready for a fight. Despite the failing light, Ronnie could see that he’d been crying and judging from his uncoordinated movements it looked like he’d downed that half bottle of whisky by himself.

Robert lay on the floor for a moment, breathing heavily as he took in the sight of Ronnie, standing over him, face full of concern. His headphones had become dislodged in the struggle and Ronnie could hear the music now, blaring from them; he briefly wondered how Robert wasn’t deaf if he listened to his music at that volume on a regular basis.

He stood awkwardly, hands on hips, feet shuffling, as he waited for Robert to say or do anything other than just lay on the floor and look at him like he was an alien.

Deciding that Robert didn’t look like he was going to do anything, Ronnie leant down and offered him a hand, which he accepted, before allowing himself to be pulled to his feet.

“Ronnie,” his eyes skittered nervously around the room and Ronnie couldn’t help but be reminded of a naughty teenager who’d been caught stealing alcohol from his parents. “I um, I can leave if you need to some work. I’ll come and clear all this up tomorrow.”

“No, you’re all right.” Ronnie smiled briefly, before surveying the room at large. “I was just coming to check up on a few things before I headed home.”

“Good.” Robert nodded, before instantly regretting it as he swayed unsteadily on his feet. “How are things coming?”

“Okay” Ronnie replied, “we’ll be ready to start work on the kitchen soon when you’ve picked out the cabinets that you’re having.”

Ronnie immediately regretted his choice of words, as soon as he mentioned cabinets Robert was sinking to the floor, curling up on himself and Ronnie was sure that he was crying.

“It’s okay, if you haven’t” he knelt beside Robert, placing a comforting hand on his leg, “we can work on something else if you want to talk to Aaron about it.”

“I can’t,” Robert mumbled into his lap, “I can’t talk to him about any of this stuff.”

Ronnie could feel the concern rising for both the man in front of him and his husband who’d been ripped away from him the day after their wedding.

“I don’t,” he considered his words before continuing, “is Aaron okay?”

“He’s in prison, so no not really,” Robert snapped, glaring at Ronnie, “sorry I didn’t mean to snap at you. I can’t talk to him about any of this stuff because we can hardly sit in the visiting room discussing which cabinets we’re going to have in _our_ house when he gets out.”

“Aah,” Ronnie knew instantly what Robert was alluding too, the fact that he and Aaron couldn’t afford to reveal that they were husbands for fear of what would happen to Aaron if the other prisoners found out. “They don’t know that you’re married.”

They think I’m his cousin, “Robert laughed at that, more tears streaking his face, “I can’t even touch him. Do you have any idea how hard it is to sit opposite the man I love and not even be able to tell him that I love him, or hold his hand, or…”?

Robert cut off as he was hit with another wave of emotions, unable to hold the tears at bay. The laborious amount of Whisky currently in his system was doing little to help with that either.

You know, I can relate somewhat,” Ronnie shifted position, deciding that he’d better sit down before his body protested at kneeling for so long. “Well, I’ve never had anyone I loved in prison, so not to that part. Lawrence and I met long after he’d been through that torture. But, being gay in the 60’s wasn’t easy, we’ll you know what happened to Lawrence.”

Robert offered a small nod in response to that, not trusting his voice not to break if he tried to say anything further, instead he waited for Ronnie to continue. Not before reaching for the whisky bottle to take another swig.

“Well anyway,” Ronnie continued, choosing to ignore the fact that Robert probably didn’t need any more alcohol, “we were in the same position. I had a boyfriend when I was 16 but no one knew about it, they couldn’t know about it or we both would have ended up in prison.

  
“We used to play football,” Ronnie smiled at the memory, “well that’s what we told everyone anyway, we’d go off to the park but we wouldn’t play football. We’d find some secluded spot where we could be ourselves for a while, but that was all it ever was, and all it ever could be.

“We couldn’t touch, hold hands, couldn’t show each other any kind of affection outside of those times for fear of being caught,” he glanced towards Robert, and seeing that he was obviously having an impact, continued. “There is nothing worse than having to hide who you are and the feelings that you have for someone, I know that. But I also know that Aaron would not want to see you here, sitting in the dark with a bottle of whisky.”

“I know it’s hard, but you know that it’s going to end, a year at most,” Ronnie saw Robert visibly flinch at the thought of his husband being away from him for entire year. “But then, when he gets out you have your whole lives together, you can be as intimate as you like, wherever you like. You can be yourselves, you need to focus on that.”

“You’re right, I know that,” Robert picked up his phone from where he had dropped it on the floor earlier, before swiping across the screen to reveal a photo of him, Liv and Aaron taken in the backroom. Ronnie watched in silence as Robert rubbed his thumb across Aaron’s face, before pressing the home button, once again turning the screen blank. “It’s just so hard to keep going without him, and it really doesn’t help that everyone is looking at me like I’m going to fall apart at any moment.”

“I mean, I’m sitting here in the dark with a bottle of whisky, crying over catalogues,” Robert huffs a little laugh at the irony of the situation, before adding, “they’re probably right to be worried, aren’t they?”

“Yeah,” Ronnie doesn’t know what else to say, but he’s momentarily shocked by just how young and vulnerable Robert looks at that moment. His world is falling down around him and he’s powerless to stop it. Ronnie knows from talking to Lawrence and Rebecca, and from what he’s seen himself that Robert isn’t a man of inaction, so being able to do nothing to help his husband must be killing him. “You’re probably right. It’s not the best thing to be doing on a Friday night, that’s for sure

“I don’t know what to do.” Desperation etched across his face, Robert reaches for the whisky bottle again. This time Ronnie moves it before he can get to it.

“I think you’ve had enough for now.” He adds gently, placing a steadying hand on his arm.

“What does it matter, I’m useless anyway. I just want to help him, I can’t even pick out the damn cabinets.” Robert swipes his hand across his face, before continuing, “He wanted to do all this himself you know, build our home.”

“I know,” Ronnie nods, “he wanted me to help with the big stuff but he’s pretty good at most of it himself.”

“And that’s just another way that I’ve failed him,” Robert’s lurching unsteadily to his feet now, arms flailing as he indicates the room around him, “I can’t even help to get his home ready for when he comes back.”

“You could always help me out.”

“Ha, you haven’t seen me doing DIY. I tried to put up a shelf in our bedroom once, spent over an hour fighting with the damn thing before Aaron came home and told me that the little plastic things that come with the screws actually have to go in the wall, not in the bin.” Robert’s smiling now, despite himself. “He said he’d never let me do DIY again for fear that I’d end up killing myself.”

“Okay, so maybe we’ll start off small and work up to the big stuff like shelves,” Ronnie grunted as he shuffled on the hard floor, struggling to get up again, “for now though you could give me a hand up off the floor.”

“Are you serious?” Robert was regarding him with suspicion, as though he thought that this was all going to be some cruel joke.

“Why not? You can impress Aaron with your skills when he comes home, and it will give you something to do as well. It’s got to be better than sitting in the dark drinking whisky and crying over catalogues.”

Robert grinned, before leaning in to give him a hand. “Okay, you’re on. When do we start?”

Ronnie regarded him for a moment, before looking back at the mess around them. “Well, first things first. You should go home, drink plenty of water and lie down. You’re going to feeling that tomorrow, he indicated the half-finished whisky bottle. “Then you can clear that mess up and we can do some painting tomorrow if you’re up for it. Probably not too early though eh?”

“I’ll see you tomorrow then.” Robert smiled, before making his way unsteadily towards the door.

 

~~

 

“That’s it, that beeping noise means you’ve found the stud.” Ronnie encouraged as Robert waved the machine over the wall. “Now you’ll need to mark where it is so that we know where to drill.”

“Right here,” Robert queried, getting ready to mark the wall.

“Yeah, but not with that,” Ronnie pulled the pen from his hand, before pulling the pencil from behind his ear and handing it to Robert. “You’ve just painted that, don’t want pen marks all over it. Always have a pencil handy.”

“Um yeah, of course,” Robert flushed, feeling stupid for not considering the pencil in the first place. He wasn’t sure he even owned any pencils; that was something he’d have to rectify if he was going to continue working on The Mill.

“Right now, while you’re finding the other stud I’ll go and get the drill.”

Robert really wished that Ronnie would stop saying stud. It was stupid and childish but every time he mentioned it Robert’s mind went elsewhere, and he had to stop himself from giggling like a teenager. It conjured images of Aaron, standing in their bedroom, dripping wet from the shower, completely naked and without a care in the world; what Robert wouldn’t give to have his own stud back again.

“Aren’t you done yet?” Ronnie shouted as he entered the room, drill in hand, “we don’t have all day you know, especially if you want all this done before Aaron gets home.”

“Yeah sorry,” Robert flushed, still grinning, as he pushed the image of Aaron out of his mind. “Just got distracted.”

“Okay well, you find the other stud and I’ll drill the first hole.” Ronnie couldn’t help but notice that Robert was biting his lip, trying to keep a straight face as he turned to face the wall. “You okay?”

Robert nodded his head, not trusting his voice, before realising that Ronnie couldn’t see him, “Yep fine, carry on.”

“Right, come on then. I’ve done my hole, now it’s your turn.” Robert had found the stud in no time, and was currently scrolling through his phone as he waited for Ronnie to finish. He should really have been watching what he was doing, but there was a lot going on involving measuring and a spirit level and honestly, he was completely lost.

“Okay your turn,” Ronnie turned to him, drill in hand, “just drill the hole where we’ve marked it with the pencil.”

“Okay, you’re sure you want me to do this, I mean it’s not like we can unmake a hole if something goes wrong.” Robert accepts the drill tentatively, before searching for the mark that he’d made earlier.

“You’ll be fine.” Ronnie encouraged, “honestly I’m sure you’re not as bad as you think you are, you just need a bit of practice. I mean you were a mechanic weren’t yah, you can’t be completely useless.”

“There is that,” Robert quipped, “but we all have our weaknesses.”

“Gone on, put some effort behind it, don’t just tickle it,” Ronnie directed as Robert started drilling. “Right, now we just need to stick the raw plugs in there, and not in the bin.”

Yep, very funny.” Robert nodded, smiling slightly at the memory, “that is one thing I have learnt.

“Then all we need do to is screw the brackets in and stick the shelf on.” Ronnie handed Robert a bracket before adding, “see you’ve already got something to impress Aaron with when he comes home.”

~~

 

“See you later, I’m just off out for a bit,” Robert called over his shoulder as he made his way through the bar, not bothering to wait for Chas’ reply.

“You know, I’m getting worried about him,” she turned to Cain, who was currently leaning on the bar, pint in hand. “He keeps disappearing at all times of the day, he’s gone for hours and then he comes home and gets straight in the shower. You don’t think he could be up to something, do you?”

“This is Sugden we’re talking about,” Cain frowned, before taking a sip of his beer, “if I hadn’t seen him making heart eyes at our Aaron all day at their wedding I would say he’s cheating, but it can’t be that he’s too soppy and loved up.”

“Yeah, you’re right there,” Chas smiled, “they’re like a pair of loved up teenagers.”

“Are you talking about Robert?” Ronnie cut in, having just walked up to the bar to get another drink for him and Lawrence. He was taking a much-needed long lunch, and had left Adam in charge at The Mill. “He’s been helping out at The Mill.”

“You what?” Chas frowned, “Robert’s been working with you?”

“Well yeah. I found him there the other night, drinking whisky in the dark,” he decided to leave out the part about him crying over the catalogues, figuring that was one secret Robert would not want spread across the whole village. “He needs to be doing something to take his mind of things, and he wants to be helping Aaron too, so I said he could help me out. We can use all the hands we can get if the appeal works and he comes home early.”

“Yeah, if” Cain huffed, before catching Chas’ face and deciding that he’d better keep his mouth shut.

“But seriously though, Robert doing manual labour,” Chas just couldn’t quite comprehend the reality of Robert Sugden doing DIY.

“Well yeah, he’s,” Ronnie paused, considering the best word to describe Robert without sounding awful, “enthusiastic. He has absolutely no clue what he’s doing, but he’s trying so…”

“So basically, he’s just slowing you down, rather than making things go quicker.” Cain cut in, “why don’t you just tell him to do one?”

“Cain,” Chas reached across the bar and slapped his arm, “be nice. He’s one of the family now.”

“I know, but since when is it a rule that I have to be nice to all my family.

  
“Whatever,” Chas rubbed the bridge of her nose in frustration, before turning back to Ronnie, “thank you, for keeping an eye on him. I suppose if he’s working with you he can’t be out causing mischief somewhere else.”

“You’re sounding more like his mum every day.” Cain can’t help himself, but he’s quick to react when Chas goes to hit him again, dodging the attack just in time. “Getting slow in your old age sis.”

~~

 

“Okay now listen mate, this is important right,” Adam was grinning at Robert like a complete idiot, clearly loving the fact that he was teaching him a thing or two, “this is the handle. You want to hold this end not the other one, because I am not telling Aaron that you cut your fingers off with a saw.”

Robert rolled his eyes, before snatching the saw from Adam. When he’d realised that Ronnie wasn’t going to be working this afternoon, he’d almost decided to give it a miss, but he needed to get out of the pub for a while to distract himself. Now that he was here though, faced with Adam’s smug grin, and stupid jokes he was seriously beginning to regret that decision.

“Yeah thanks,” Robert snapped, “I may not be very good at this stuff but I’m not a complete idiot.”

“I’m just sayin bro,” Adam smacked him playfully on the arm, “you need to be careful is all. Aaron will not thank me if he comes back and you’re missing pieces.”

“Yeah well, as long as there’s one piece that’s still intact I’m sure he’d get over it.” Robert quipped, before turning to the task at hand.

  
“Oh man, no that is one image I do not need,” Adam grimaced at the mental image that Robert had just given him, throwing his hands in the air, “mate I need to go and scrub my brain out or somethin.”

“How about you tell me what I’m supposed to be doing with this?” Robert gestured to the large pile of floorboards currently stacked beside the workbench they had set up on the front driveway. “That’ll take you mind off it.”

“Yeah, yeah okay.” Adam bounced towards him, smacking his work gloves down on the bench beside him before picking up one of the boards. “Right, basically we need to cut all these in half."

“That’s it?” Robert raised an eyebrow, he couldn’t believe it was that simple.

“Yep, that’s it.” Adam’s grabbed the tape measure in front of him, before marking off the centre point, cutting through the board in no time. “There you go, as simple as” He added, as he placed the two newly cut boards on the other side of the bench, ready to start a new pile. “Your turn.”

Robert did as directed, picking one of the boards from the pile before measuring and marking ready to cut. So far, so good.

Grabbing the saw, he started to make the first cut, but was quickly stuck when the saw refused to move. Putting all his weight behind it he managed a slight forward motion before coming to a halt again. Deciding that maybe the best thing to do was pull it out and start again, he gave a tug on the saw, which once again refused to move.

“Rob, what are you doing bro?” Adam reappeared over his shoulder, tutting at his obviously pitiful efforts.

“The saw must be broken,” Robert pouted. That must be it because he refused to accept that he wasn’t able to cut a simple piece of wood. “It’s stuck.”

He gave another tug on the saw, this time pulling it loose, causing him to overbalance, taking Adam down with him as he fell flat on his back.

“Should Aaron and I be worried?” Victoria stood over them, lying on top of each other, hands on hips.

  
“Well Aaron should be yeah, he’s married to Rob.” Adam rolled out from underneath, bouncing to his feet, grinning at Vic, “Seriously babe, do you wanna swap?”

“I really don’t think Marlon would appreciate you in the kitchen babe to be honest.” Victoria reached out to pat his arm placatingly. “I hate to break it to you but beans on toast doesn’t exactly fit with his menu.”

“No, I mean we could send Rob over to Marlon and you could come and help me.” Adam smirked at Robert, who was still sitting on the ground in front of him, pouting. “I’m pretty sure you’d be better at this than him. Honestly, I’m worried he might end up maiming himself or something.”

“If he didn’t give me defective tools I’d be fine.” Robert countered, dusting himself down as he stood.

“Hey, only a shoddy workman blames his tools.” Adam quipped, “besides there was nothing wrong with it when I used it.”

“Whatever,” Robert huffed. “Did you actually want something Vic or did you just come over to ogle your husband.”

“Actually, I came to see if you wanted some lunch.” Victoria’s genuine smile made him momentarily forget his annoyance. “But if you’re too busy…”

“No, we’re coming.” Adam practically leapt towards her, “throw in a pint though yeah. I’m gonna need it if I’m gonna have to work with Rob all day.”

“I was just thinking the same thing,” Robert added, before walking off up the driveway, not waiting to see if Victoria and Adam were following.

 

~~

 

“So anyway, Liv’s gone over to Gabby’s for tea, so I’ve actually got a reprieve from stroppy teenagers for the night.” Robert smiled at his husband sitting opposite him. “Though I’m not really getting out of anything, no doubt Gabby will be round ours for tea tomorrow. Those two are practically inseparable these days.”

“Lucky them.” Aaron smiled briefly, before fixing his eyes on the table in front of him. He was not going to cry, not today.

“Hey, you’ll be out soon and then I can glue myself to your side if necessary.” Robert was doing his best to keep Aaron’s spirits up but it was becoming increasingly difficult with every visit that passed. “Although I think the rest of your family might have something to say about that, I’m sure they’ll want to throw you some huge welcome home party.”

“Urgh, I hope not.” Aaron rolled his eyes, before leaning his elbows on the table. It was the closest he could get to Robert without touching him, and it still felt like there was a chasm between them. “That’s the last thing I want.”

“I know,” Robert grimaced just thinking about it. He knew Aaron, and he knew that he didn’t like having a fuss made of him, but of Chas was dead set on throwing him a coming home party. He’d have to work on a way to change her mind. “Don’t worry I’ll sort your mum out. Maybe we can do dinner at ours or something, just the four of us. That way she gets to see you and you don’t have to deal with everyone else.”

Aaron looked up at that, shocked at Robert’s use of the words _dinner at ours._ If he was honest he hadn’t really thought a lot about The Mill, with the appeal going through and him getting out earlier than expected he’d assumed that it wouldn’t be ready in time for him coming home. Ronnie must have been working overtime to get it ready for them and Aaron made a mental note to thank him for it when he got out.

“Ours,” he grinned at Robert, the first genuine smile that he’d felt in a long while. “That’s never going to get old. Didn’t think it would be ready though by the time I got back.”

“Yeah well, Ronnie’s been great and Adam’s been helping, and I’ve been doing a few bits too.” Robert blushed at seeing the look of horror that passed across Aaron’s face before he noticed him not so subtly checking him out for injuries. “Okay, you don’t need to make that face, I can do DIY you know.”

“Uh huh, like that time you tried to fix the dripping tap and ended up flooding the kitchen,” Aaron nodded, “yep you’re a real handyman Rob.”

“Hey, how was I to know which way to turn the damn thing?” Robert shot back defensively.

Aaron laughed so loud that some of the people around them were turning around to see what was so funny. “That’s why you shouldn’t have done it in the first place.” He leant forward in his chair, as close as he could so that he could whisper. “You’re an idiot, but I still love you despite your lack of DIY skills.”

“I love you too.” Robert reciprocated the gesture, leaning forward on the table so that they were almost touching. “Just you wait and see though Mr Sugden, I’ll show you.”

Aaron raised a mocking eyebrow, “Okay Mr Dingle, whatever you say.”

 

~~

 

“Robert, I’ve finished mine, are you nearly done yet, I’m starving.” Liv called from down the hall. She was in her bedroom, working on the flat pack furniture that they’d bought from IKEA, whilst Robert was working on his own in his and Aarons room. He’d suggested that they work on one at a time together but Liv had insisted that she knew what she was doing and didn’t need any help. So, they’d ended up working on their own, much to Robert’s dismay.

“Robert, did you hear me?” Liv appeared in the doorway to the bedroom now, hair a mess, face flushed with her hands on her hips as she surveyed the carnage in front of her. “What have you done?”

Robert poked his head up from behind a large piece of wood that he was currently trying to screw to another smaller piece of wood, and frowned at her. He’d been working damn hard, thank you very much, it wasn’t his fault that the stupid pieces didn’t want to fit together. “How have you finished already, it’s only been…” He paused to look for his phone so that he could check the time.

“Two hours.” Liv supplied helpfully before he had a chance to finish. “It’s been two hours and you’ve just made a mess. Do you even have two pieces together yet?”

“Um,” Robert scanned the pile of wood, screws and metal littering the floor around him, before replying sheepishly, “I did have but then I found out that they weren’t meant to go together so I had to unscrew them.”

“Seriously?” Liv huffed, coming further into the room, before kneeling on the floor next to him. “Where are the instructions?”

“They’re over there,” Robert gestured vaguely with the screwdriver in his hand to a small pile of parts on the other side of the room, “but they won’t help you, they’re all in Swedish or something.”

“Yep, that’s one set, what about the other ones. The ones that are actually in English.” Liv sat back on her heels, scanning the room for the missing instructions.

“What?” Robert stopped fighting with the screw he was currently working on, giving her a vacant look of horror. “There are English instructions?”

“Seriously.” Liv was on her feet now, leaving the room. She returned a few seconds later with the set of instructions that she’d worked from and shoved them at Robert. “How do you actually function in everyday life?”

“Hey, I resent that.” Robert pouted, dropping the screwdriver to take hold of the instructions she was offering him. “DIY just isn’t my strong point okay.”

“Got that right.” Liv threw back, before making her way across the room to grab two of the smaller pieces of wood, an allen key, and some screws. “Remind me to tell Aaron that he needs to never let you do DIY ever again.”

 “That suits me just fine.” Robert smirked, “he’s just been sat on his arse for the last 3 months, he can do some of the work for a change.”

“I’m going to tell him you said that as well.” Liv joked, fixing the two pieces that she had together in one swift movement.

“Tattle tale,” Robert threw back, playfully smacking her on the arm with his screwdriver.

 

~~

 

“But look Aaron, the drawers have handles, just like you wanted.” Robert ran over to the first drawer in the kitchen, pulling it out to demonstrate as though Aaron had never actually seen drawers before and wouldn’t know how they worked. “I put the handles on.” Robert said proudly, smiling at his husband.

“Yeah, they look great Rob,” Aaron replied, trying to smile, and show some enthusiasm that he really wasn’t feeling. When he’d said he just wanted to come home to _their_ house he hadn’t thought it would involve a tour of all the fixtures and fittings. “You, Ronnie and Adam have done a great job.”

“Oh wait, you’ve got to see the living room. We got those curtains that you liked, the ones from the catalogue.” Robert was already half way to the living room, before Aaron could catch him.

“Is he giving you the grand tour?” Liv questioned, coming down the stairs from her bedroom. “He’s been going on about those handles for days. Just smile and nod, throw some enthusiastic comments his way and he’ll soon get bored.”

“Thanks.” Aaron nodded slowly, not sure he could do anything else at this point but follow Liv’s advice. That party in the pub was beginning to sound very appealing.

“Aaron, you coming or what?” Robert’s head appeared from around the doorway, “I’ve still got loads of stuff to show you.”

“Yay,” Aaron mumbled under his breath, before following his husband into the living room.

It wasn’t that he didn’t appreciate everything that Robert, Ronnie, and Adam had done in the house, he really did. The house was stunning and they’d done an amazing job but it was just not what he had planned for his first night out of prison.

After having made their way through the downstairs of the house room by room, Robert pointing out all the little details that he was so proud of he suggested that they go upstairs and Aaron couldn’t contain his excitement. Knowing that he was finally going to get intimately acquainted with their bedroom and hopefully his husband for the first time in three months.

He had to hand it to Robert, the bedroom was perfect, a blend of the both of them, not too dark and not too poncey either. They had very different tastes when it came to decorating but Robert had somehow managed to match both their styles together into something that was so fundamentally them.

Walking into the bedroom, Aaron couldn’t help but return the smile that Robert was giving him. It was the first genuine, free expression he’d seen on him in months. “Well, what do you think?”

“I think you, Mr Dingle, are amazing.” Aaron stepped towards Robert, reaching out to wrap his arms around his waist. “I can’t believe you got all this done in three months.”

“I wanted it to be perfect for you when you got home.” Robert leaned in resting his head-on Aaron’s shoulder, just enjoying the sensation of being able to touch his husband whenever he wanted.

“It almost is.” Aaron whispered softly in his ear, “there’s just one more thing that would make it perfect.”

“Oh?” Robert lifted his head from Aaron’s shoulder, “oh. Yep, that would make a perfect homecoming present, but first you have to see the walk-in wardrobe.”

“You really need to work on your foreplay,” Aaron groaned, before pulling Robert in tighter. “I’ll look at anything you want me too, later. Right now, I just want to be with my husband.”

“I suppose it could wait” Robert nibbled playfully at his ear, before tugging them both down onto the bed.

“I’m guessing you two are going to be getting gross and soppy all over each other so I’m going to Gabby’s for dinner” Liv shouted from the bottom of the stairs.

“See yah later.” Aaron shouted, before returning his attentions to his husband.

  

~~

 

“Seriously though mate. Thank you for looking out for him while I was away.” Aaron slapped Adam on the back as be put the pint down in front of him. “He’s so proud of those bloody handles in the kitchen, won’t shut up about them. Keeps asking if I need anything from the kitchen, just so he can go and open a drawer or cupboard.”

“Oh bro, I know. He’s flippin obsessed.” Adam smirked, “that and the shelves he put up with Ronnie.”

“Oh, that reminds me, I’ll be back in a sec, just need to go and thank Ronnie too while Rob’s not around.”

“Yeah, no worries, I’ll be here.” Adam took a sip of his beer, before pulling up his messages on his phone.

“Ronnie, sorry to bother you but can I have a word?” Aaron nodded a greeting towards Lawrence who was sat next to Ronnie but didn’t say anything else.

“Sure lad,” He was on his feet, before turning to Lawrence, “I won’t be a minute.”

Aaron walked back over to the bar, waiting for Ronnie to follow. “Can I buy you a pint?”

“Yeah sure,” Ronnie, nodded, “that’ll be nice. Thanks.”

“I just wanted to say thanks for looking after Robert while I was inside.” Aaron smiled slightly, “I know he’s not easy, especially when you’re trying to teach him something. But it made a real difference giving him something to focus on, even if he is doing my head in now.”

“He’s a good lad. Not sure I’d employ him myself but be does try. He just wanted everything to be perfect for when you got out.”

“Yeah, I know, and it is. “Aaron looked down at the bar, uncomfortable with the conversation. He hadn’t really had a lot to do with Ronnie before, and being open with him like this felt strange. “It’s just, I know Robert, he doesn’t do just sitting around, waiting. He would have fallen apart if he hadn’t had something to keep him focused and you gave him that. So honestly I can’t thank you enough.”

Aaron blinked furiously, trying to keep the tears at bay, all the fear and worry he’d felt for his husband over the last three months threatening to spill over, and he was not going to do that here.

Ronnie patted him on the shoulder, before adding, “honestly think nothing of it. Just you go and get back to living your life and put this whole mess behind you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Join me on tumblr @Beyondthebridge


End file.
